A lot of exercise programs designed for weight loss by experts have made people perceive such programs as either too complex to follow, or expensive to join. The truth is, you don’t really need any technically designed weight loss plan to keep you in shape once you know the basic principles of exercise and calorie burning.
You can develop your personal weight loss exercise to suit your lifestyle for a healthy, strong, and good looking body. Below are the key points of an effective exercise program for body weight reduction.
1. The mode of your exercise program must involve large muscle groups. The muscles of the legs constitute a good portion of the total body mass, as do the muscles of the arms.
Many people don’t realize that the major muscles in the chest and back are attached to the upper arm and are actively involve in almost all arm movements.
Walking, jogging, hiking, stair climbing, running, and bicycling primarily involve the legs while swimming and rowing stress the arms.
The use of hand-held weights in walking integrates arm action with the legs. Cross-country skiing and rope jumping use the arms and legs as does a good aerobic dance routine. These are good large-muscle activities, although there are lots of others.
2. The second factor of an effective exercise program for weight loss is the intensity level. The higher the exercise intensity, the more calories you burn.
Per unit of time, normal walking uses fewer calories than easy jogging, which uses fewer calories than fast running. In other words, it cost you more energy to move your body weight at a faster pace. However, there is an optimal intensity level for each person depending on how long the exercise will last.
You can run at a very high intensity for 50 yards but you certainly could not maintain that same pace for 2 miles.
Intensity and duration are interrelated, but for burning the most calories, duration becomes more important, and the intensity must be adapted for the amount of time you plan to exercise.
3. Probably the most important factor in total energy expenditure is the duration of your exercise. In swimming, bicycling, running, or walking, distance is the key. For example, running a mile will cost an average-sized person about 100 calories.
A person running 1 mile a day will take take over 1 month to lose 1 pound of fat, whereas running 5 miles a day would shorten the time span to about one week. Thus if the purpose of your exercise is to lose weight, you should stress the duration concept.
4. Exercise frequency complements duration and intensity. Frequency of exercise refers to how often you participate each week. Obviously, the more often you exercise, the greater your weekly caloric loss.
In general, 3-4 times per week would be satisfactory, provided duration and intensity were adequate, but 6-7 times would just about double your caloric output. A daily exercise program is recommended if weight loss is your primary goal.
5. Another important factor is the enjoyment of your exercise program. For an activity to be effective in the long run, it should be one that you enjoy, yet one that will help burn calories because it has a recommended intensity level, can be performed for a long time, or both.
For example, you may not enjoy jogging or running, so other activities may be substituted. Fast walking with vigorous arm action, golf – pulling a cart, swimming, bicycling, tennis, handball, racquetball, and a variety of other activities may produce a greater feelings of enjoyment and still burn a considerable amount of calories.
Even leisure activities and home chores done vigorously such as gardening, yard work, washing the car, and home repairs may be used in burning calories and developing fitness. So, next time you vacuum the house or mow the lawn, try to think about it as a good workout rather than work.
6. Practicality is another important factor. You may enjoy swimming, tennis, racquetball, and a variety of other sports, but lack of facilities, poor weather conditions, or high costs may limit your ability to participate. For the active person who travels, this may be a major concern.
Walking, jogging, or running can be very practical substitutes on those days when you cannot participate in your regular physical activity. For the physically unfit, overweight, or elderly, walking is probably the best choice of exercise.
7. Skillfulness is also an important factor. Learn and engage in a variety of physical activities, such as running, cycling, swimming, rowing on stationary machines, stair climbing and aerobic walking.
By cross-training, such as swimming two days, you are less likely to become bored with your exercise program or to sustain overuse injuries. In addition, if you plan to exercise for an hour daily, one-half hour each of running and cycling, or some other combination of exercises, is also an effective way to cross-train.
Finally, you don’t need any specially designed fitness exercise with high-tech equipments to help you lose weight. You can develop your personal exercise program once you know the basic principles of exercise – walking, jogging, running, swimming – the required intensity for maximum results, and above all, some little knowledge of energy expenditure – calorie burning for weight loss.
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